1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic emergency locator system associated with a conventional telephone line such that, when an outgoing call is made to 911 or another designated emergency number, an external light or other signaling device is automatically actuated. This enables a person or vehicle responding to the call to visually identify the location upon reaching the vicinity of the premises.
Many real-life situations require paramedics, police, or other emergency rescue services to be dispatched to remote locations. Such remote locations may include isolated farmhouses, mountain cabins, and suburban locations in which a house may be set back far from the road. Emergencies arise for many reasons, including those which are health-related, and may involve serious injury from accidents, gunshot wounds, and the like, or from heart attacks. It is extremely important in many instances that professional help be obtained immediately. Where, for example, an individual has suffered a heart attack in which circulation of blood is denied to the brain, irreparable brain injury will occur within about four minutes. Even if the individual remains alive, his mental capacity may be irreparably damaged if circulation is not quickly restored. Consequently, it is of utmost importance that emergency personnel be able to successfully locate the correct site without delay.
In all too many instances, emergency personnel have found the general vicinity, but have been unsuccessful in locating the specific site, with the resultant delays being catastrophic with respect to the individual seeking emergency assistance. This problem is particularly acute in rural areas where the roads are not well marked and the homes have no house or lot identifying numbers.
2. The Prior Art
At the present time, emergency personnel are normally summoned by an individual seeking help through the telephone system, and most conveniently by utilizing the 911 or enhanced E911 emergency call distribution system. Both the 911 and enhanced E911 emergency call distribution systems are now nationally approved. Thus, a person anywhere in the country who has been injured or who has suffered a heart attack or other emergency has only to pick up the telephone and dial 911 in order to summon help.
Normally, if at night and if circumstances permit, a person calling the 911 number will turn on an outdoor light to assist the emergency personnel in finding the location. In the excitement and confusion of the emergency, however, the person may forget to turn on the outdoor light. Alternatively, it may be impossible for the person seeking help to move around to turn on a light, as he or she may be physically incapacitated. As a consequence, effective assistance is often denied.
Distress lights and signaling systems are known in the art. One such system is described in the Jones U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,761 dated Oct. 15, 1985. Such systems generally comprise a light remotely positioned adjacent the roadside and switching means which includes a radio or ultrasound frequency transmitter inside the house designed to send a signal to a receiver mounted on the light. Such systems are not responsive to the use of the telephone and thus require the remembrance of, and physical ability to perform, an additional act.
Other systems, not directed to emergency location, use telephone lines as the communication medium. One such system is described in the Daley U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,690, and relates to a remote control system connected to telephone lines to transmit dial coded command signals to a central control unit, where the signals are converted into actuating signals for specified devices elsewhere on the premises. The actuating signals are transmitted as pulse modulated carrier waves through utility power lines serving the premises, and specifically tuned receivers on the lines associated with the devices detect the appropriate actuating signals and cause the devices to be actuated.
Still another such non-emergency system, described in the Treidl U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,319, relates to a control system for switching on or off appliances or other electrical devices at predetermined or preselected times. The timing or sequencing of switching on or off any of the appliances can be set or changed by telephoning the system from a remote telephone and providing appropriate encoded instructions through the telephone lines.
Still yet another non-emergency system, described in the Jackson U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,900, relates to a phone-line-linked, tone operated control apparatus which comprises a detecting circuit coupled to a telephone line. An additional control circuit is used to turn on and off various devices, to make adjustments in their operation, check their status, and the like.
While these latter systems utilize telephone actuated control means, in each instance a rather complex system is described which requires the user not only to dial a complete telephone number, but then to dial individual codes to actuate the various devices.
No known systems use the 911 emergency call distribution system to automatically actuate a remote locating device upon use of the telephone to report an emergency.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to obviate the deficiencies of the known prior art and to provide a novel system and method for automatically actuating a remote locating device upon use of the telephone to report an emergency.
It is another object of this invention to provide an automatic emergency locator system which has an automatic reset in the event wrong numbers are dialed, and which can be reset at the premises when emergency personnel arrive.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an emergency locating system which does not require remembrance to perform any acts additional to the call for assistance, or the physical ability to move about.
These and many other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying claims when read in conjunction with the specification and the drawings.